Die kalte Eisblume schneidet scharf
by Gretenai
Summary: A past story about two RKO members,Balthasar von Neumann and Helga von Vogelweide. And I set A.D.3011---50 years before "Rage against the Moons" as the time of this story, the first meeting of them. Rated T for some violence.
1. Chapter 1: An der schoenen, blauen Donau

Balthasar von Neumann and Helga von Vogelweide are the people from the novel,"Trinity Blood Rage against the Moons".  
Unfortunately, they don't appear in the anime, manga, or the another side of the novel ("Reborn on the Mars").  
If you want to know the exact things about them,  
I recommend you to read R.A.M.4 to 6. They are "Judgment Day", "Bird Cage", and "Apocalypse Now".  
Oops..., are the latter part of the novel not published or translated in English yet?  
Then, if you have some ability to read Japanese, I strongly suggest you to try them!

**Disclaimer:**

Of course, I don't have the rights to own the characters.  
They're definitely the creations of Sunao Yoshida (May his soul rest in peace...)

In the same way, the composer of the waltz "An der schönen, blauen Donau"  
(In English, I suppose it's called "The Blue Danube" or "On the Beautiful Blue Danube")  
is, Johann Strauss the second. He was an Austrian composer, as you know.

In addition, "The High Altitude platform" is a quasi-stationary aircraft. It's a plan of science, and there's no concern with me.  
The possibility of building this structure is still in theory, and it remains incomplete and been regarded as a SF-thing.  
If you need more info, take a look at wiki in article of "The High Altitude platform" or read the novel R.A.M.6, "Apocalypse Now".

* * *

**Die kalte Eisblume schneidet scharf.**

* * *

**Chapter1: **

**A.D.3011---An der schönen, blauen Donau**

In the middle part of the Europe, there was a historic city called Vienna in Dukedom Ostmark.  
Usually in Roman Common Language we called it "Vienna", but in original language which the people living there used to speak, it could be "Wien". This metropolis was famous for its tendency to cultivate classical music.  
With its strong pride of being a homeland of numerous composers, the city had become headquarters of many authoritative musical society for long years. The systematized pride tended to grow the intelligentsia, the privileged class, and the nobility. The distinction of classes might do some wrong for one side, but spontaneouly for the other side, it could produce some kind of beauty. And the scenery an altitude of 2,000 meters above there was absolutely beautiful.  
One classical waltz called "the Blue Danube" would be well-matched with this sight.  
Just like the music progressed, the river Danube was flowing through.

The original source of this river existed in Donaueschingen, the old city of Kingdom Germanicus.  
There the flow of the water was given birth into the world, and then began to make its way.  
Going through the gloomy Schwarzwald and the many deep forests, the river went by people's dwellings.  
It visited many nice towns and cities, such as Ulm, Ingolstadt, Regensburg, and Linz.  
After passing them, the Danube finally arrived in the city of Vienna.  
From the dark beginning to the bright cities, the river kept on flowing.  
People would be surrendered by both the world-famous waltz and the wonderful creation of the nature.  
Wandering the colors between azure and blue, the flow constantly kept on going, and gradually began to slow down.  
It's just like a miniature of life. The more beauty it had, the more solitude it would include.  
Indeed, the graceful flow was worth looking for a while.

But in fact, this view of the Danube high up from the sky was something only a few people were allowed to look at.  
From the entire citizen in Vienna, only three brothers who belonged to Methuselah were able to see a bird's-eye view of this city.

The Methuselahs had apparently no difference from the human being. But they were clearly different in some ways.  
First, they had much more quicker reflexes than human had. And they had very long lives, such as Methuselah the son of Enoch in Genesis.  
Second, they customarily needed the blood of human, in order to continue their lives.  
Third, their fear for the sun was so much. Whenever they felt the touch of the sunshine, terribly they suffered.  
Fourth, they called themselves "Methuselah" proudly, while they contemptibly called the human"Terran".

And this place, a few thousands meters above the city of Vienna, was called "The High Altitude Platform".  
Long ago this facility was used as the radio-relay station covering a wide range, but now that things had come to this pass.  
Leaving some of the equipments behind, most part of this place had been reduced to ruin.  
Thanks to the solar power generation, the facility itself kept on floating in high air near the stratosphere.  
But the inner machines used for wireless communications were critically damaged.  
In a word, this ruin was just an empty place. There was nothing worth watching except for the scenery.

But some people, the distant descendants of the founder, were still looking after this ruin.  
That's why this place had been saved from a perfect devastation.  
The administrators of here were three brothers of Methuselah. And now among three, only one person was here.  
The eldest of them, seemingly a young man with an elegant looks, was looking down the outer world through the anti-UV protected windows.  
There was no light in his eyes, and he seemed not to focus his mind on something special.

He was indeed good-looking, but his figure looked like a lifeless sculpture rather than a living thing.  
No expression was appeared on his face, much less the feelings.  
Blowing his medium hair in the soft air, he was vacantly taking a look at the scenery.

***

_Th_e _streetlamps and the gas lamps are the artificial lights which work some electricity or some scientifically-processed gas._  
_At the time of twilight when the natural sunlight is fading, especially they look glaring for me. They're too bright to see in the near position._  
_But in this faraway place, they get easier to look at. I can say it's simply beautiful, even though they're the products of the Terrans._  
_The light of Vienna overlooking from here have some resemblance to their producers._

_The Terrans are the species which have less technology and less knowledge than us._  
_I take it for granted and have no doubt they will be conquered by our side someday. It is true and strategic fact._  
_On the other hand, another fact exists. It may be contrary to former fact, but I've noticed it._  
_Another fact, that the Terrans have more vitality than us, is also true._  
_Looking them one by one, they're weak indeed. But as a group, they can make the violence of the number._  
_And make it possible to threaten the Methuselahs...What annoying species they are! They should be damned in the near future._

_However, I know the reason why the empire of Methuselah keeps them alive._  
_In exchange for huge money in a suitable manner, the empire collects the blood of the Terrans._  
_The blood productive medicine is made from that, and we utilize them as supplementary nutrition._  
_It's supplementary for our meal, but essential for us to live._  
_And from that medicine, we get "Aqua Vitae"-—the water of life. Simply speaking, it's just blood._

_The Terrans, are weak and powerless species._  
_But they know the short-term of their lives well, and struggle to improve the cultures and the ways of living._  
_The mentality of them is difficult for us to understand. Why they stick to the lives, against the natural-born DNA?_  
_We're destined to live a few hundred years long, and the Terrans are doomed to live with the fragile bodies._  
_Why are they trying to change that?_  
_A desire for the long life, or the anti-aging? I have no idea about it. Perhaps they don't understand themselves, either._  
_In addition, they don't know the weariness within the long life._

_The question or anxiety about invasion from Terran-side is still not becoming a problem._  
_As a matter of fact, I think we should warn. At least we ought to take care of the possibility what to come._  
_In the daily life and a short span, we need not to think about it._  
_But in case of a long span, the thing and the situations may change some more and some less._  
_I've noticed this idea through the observation of the current reality. The conservative ones cannot hold the future._  
_Even though they've got plenty of knowledge and high abilities, the future will be limited or entirely meaningless._

_For example, how about three brothers who are just performing the task inherited from their ancestor?_  
_What kind of future will they gain?_  
_Maybe nothing. Nothing at all. I'm sure what lies beyond our time will be vacant..._

***

On the handsome face of brown-haired young man, a strange expression appeared.  
It seemed as if he was laughing a little. He made laugh at himself, drew ridicule upon nothing but himself.  
However, the bitter faint smile ended instantly.  
And at the same time with very good timing, the classical music which had been playing here, ended also.  
Then this high-airtight room was reigned by an intolerable silence.

Silence was nothing. Nothing could be heard in this room.  
But an excessive silent situation occasionally indicated some facts. The facts were so strange that he was hardly able to recognize it.  
What were they? They were about dominion of this room, place, and an artifact which the ancient Methuselahs had created.  
Covered by the deadly silence, his justifiable right to dominate here seemed to be lost.  
At the moment, the long history included in this place became dominant.

And he, the aged Methuselah with the young looks of a person in his twenties, seemed to become one part of the history and the silence.  
This deep silence would last for a long time, till his brothers returned here.  
Even though they had returned, the solitude and the painful void might not change at all.

The second brother, Melchior, hadn't talked to him for ages.  
He had completely lost the interest in living thing, and concentrated on making dolls.  
The dolls which exactly meant Automatons were anyway well-made,  
but absorbed only on one thing was not proper for a person to communicate with someone.  
The situation was almost same about Kaspar, the third brother.  
The youngest of the brothers had a cheerful character, but on the other hand, he'd got a perversion in sexuality.  
And so he tended to leave their sophisticated home, and preferred going to the downtown.

As if they had lost their purposes to live, they had been killing and wasting their times.  
There was nothing that stimulated them. Only the duty to control this ruin was upon them.  
The unpleasant events hadn't been waiting, but also anything special didn't come over.  
Thus the three brothers of Methuselah had been living.  
The second brother was a half-mad scientist, and the third was an epicure.  
And this man, who was standing in front of the windows, was the eldest of them. He was a kind of nihilist and a man of agnosticism.

Probably today would be the usual day. Without any strange thingor accident, the sun was straightly beginning to set westward.  
Soon it would be the nighttime and then there would be no fear for the Methuselah to live.  
The night was their time and the day was for the others.  
If it were not for the sunshine, there would be no need for them to annoy.  
Only the weapons made of silver and the sunshine were their weak points. About the other things, they could defeat everything.

Seeing the sun set down beyond the horizon, the brown-haired Methuselah looked back and started to leave this room.  
It was a soundless action, and here was the very silent place.  
But just then he went a few steps forward, he perceived an unusual sound---the heartbeat of someone.  
Someone who didn't himself. In addition to this faint noise, he heard a sound of footsteps.

Could those be the sound made by his brothers? No, it couldn't be true.  
At that time they'd been to the city and it would take a few days for them to return here.  
Next, a disagreeable burglar's visit came into question. Would there be some possibilities of entering someone unlawfully?  
But it was almost impossible. The surveillance network and guarding system of this facility had still been working perfectly.  
The entrance couldn't be come through without self-identification,  
and the certification of this place was allowed only three brothers who were serving as the administrators.  
Moreover, the passwords were changing hourly in the very important place such as the main controlling room.  
Whoever tried to enter the room was needed a long and complicated words.  
And above all, before everything else, the facility itself existed in a place where an average person couldn't reach.  
It existed far up in the sky, near to the stratosphere.

Doubting the mistake of his ears, the Methuselah began to walk quietly in search of the sound.  
His speed of walking was a little bit slow pace, just like walking in the forest for a personal relaxation.  
He didn't have to be hurry or afraid, because the surveillance network set all over the facility wouldn't act toward him.  
It's natural and no strange. The DNA-information of his family was registered as the administrator of this place.  
No alarm sound or warning would surround him.

But in this case, there were some reasons except for the proper reason.  
The surveillance network didn't work active for the legitimacy of his DNA,  
but because the optical and infrared sensors on the way were destroyed by someone.  
It was utterly destroyed not by physical violence, but by a more complicated way.  
They had been broken by the data-cracking virus sent into the inner control units.  
The highly efficient machines created by the ancient Methuselahs were mostly made powerless.

What the Methuselah saw in his presence, was the abnormal sight that he had never seen like that.  
As a matter of course, his suspicion was on the increase. Who on earth did come here? What is he or she plotting?  
Considering the questions and their possible answers, he got closer to the source of the sound.  
After passing by a quiet corridor, he finally found the target he had been looking for.

It was just touching the door of the main-controlling room, and about to enter there.


	2. Chapter 2: von dieser Zeit an

**Chapter2: **

**von dieser Zeit an**

In front of the door made of fortified titanium, there was a person who looked shorter than him in height.  
It was a slender and delicate figure. He couldn't see its detail from a distance, but he speculated it would be a young woman in her teens.  
The girl wearing a white coat which was just like that of scientist was concentrating her attention on operating a portable computer, and she utterly didn't take notice of him.  
She connected her computer to the console of the door, and fluently let her fingers slip on the keyboard.  
Looking at the girl, the Methuselah realized that she was certainly the one who destroyed the surveillance network of this facility.  
He kept on walking toward her.

Even he reached the point the girl could clearly notice him; she was still going about her business.  
Did she neglect him though she take notice of him, or was she just an insensitive one?  
The Methuselah stopped for a few seconds to think about this question, but soon he started walking again.  
This time, he intentionally walked toward her with clear footsteps.

But in spite of the definite sound of someone's approaching, the girl didn't change her manner.  
She was still at work, trying to crack the code of the controlling unit.  
He and she had been only one meter away, but nothing was going to happen between them. She ignored him invariably, and he was just looking at.  
Finally, the Methuselah understood how meaningless it would be to keep this situation. He decided to talk to the girl.

"Guten Abend, Fräulein."  
It was a very polite greeting for a trespasser. There was no hostility in his voice. He talked to the girl with a low bow, in a well-mannered way.  
But the greeting seemed to make no sense, and the girl continued her subversive activities.

The Methuselah shrugged his shoulder lightly, and walked a few steps to arrive right in front of her.  
The trespasser seemed very young, as he had speculated.  
If she was a Terran, and her looks was equal to her real age, she might not had grown up to twenty years old yet. Maybe fifteen or sixteen.  
She had long hair, of which the color was difficult to be expressed. The color of her hair was between bluish purple and silver.  
Whatever the name of the color, it was a cold color.  
And her eyes, as same as her hair, were bluish color. The eyes were shining brightly, as if they had been rare sapphires.  
But they were constantly turning to the display of the portable computer, and they didn't look at the Methuselah at all.

Even he took a look at her from a very close range, the she made no response.  
The girl seemed to reject the recognition of seeing someone just in front of her, and she kept on analyzing the code of the door.  
When he turned his eyes to her clothes, he noticed that she wasn't an ordinary scientist or a programmer.  
The emblem embroidered on the left chest of her white outerwear, was the coat of arms standing for the House of Ostmark.  
In the Terrans' society, the studies of lost technology were mostly carried by the governments.  
The fact that she was carrying out espionage at her age was strange, but there wasn't no doubt she was a Terran from Dukedom Ostmark.

The brown-haired Methuselah judged the girl to be a spy from the Terran-side. He talked to her in an accusing tone.  
"You're a scientist from Ostmark, aren't you? Thank you for coming all the way."  
"But I have to inform you of an unpleasant thing. This place can never treat a person from the country of Terran. "  
"As you know, there's nothing more to worth looking.  
I'd like to recommend that you should get out of here right away, as soon as possible."

Then, the girl in front of him replied at last. She closed her portable computer, and gave him a scornful smile.  
Did she belong to the nobility of Ostmark? The girl had a wand which was inlayed with sterling silver and jewels.  
She pointed the Methuselah with the decorative wand, and reluctantly faced him.  
"The ruin of the ancient age should behave silent.  
And you, the one part of this void place, should also keep silent. Don't you know the word silent mean?"  
"Mind own your business, vampire. You don't have the right to disturb me."

Obvious contempt and provocation were told from the girl. She wasn't scared of the Methuselah close to her, and went on like this:  
"Oh, well, I may admit your opinion that here is the place worth nothing. So don't worry, I'll get out of here soon.  
It's amazing that people can live comfortably in such a boring facility."

The Methuselah looked at her in the eyes, and protested against her thoughts.  
"Of course, things can be changed easily by the points of view.  
There are many thoughts depend on each person. I take it for granted that you think like that."

He folded his arms, and nodded as if he had agreed to her.  
"Anyway, I can understand both your thoughts and reason why you've come here. But I can't afford to admit them."  
"Though I've got so much free time, I can't go along everything you say.  
I'm the administrator of here, and you're an unwelcome guest. That's all."

Against his warning, the girl didn't change her mind. She was still squarely confronting him.  
"Do you mean that it's your duty to control this devastated place?  
What a foolish vampire you are! Your words can be heard like an old man's nonsense. "  
"It seems that we can't get along well with each other. Shut your damn mouth, or get out of my way immediately."  
She paid no attention to what the Methuselah said, and tried to step forward to the door.

"I'm sorry, but you're not allowed to go forward from here.  
If you don't want to go home by yourself, now it's my turn to use of some force."  
After saying so, the Methuselah went behind the girl in a split second.  
He laid his hand on her neck and grasped it, putting some strength. His fingers and the nails were dramatically changed to the strange forms.  
A human could never do a thing like this. Now his nails changed into the claws of a carnivorous animal.  
The claw was clearly proving that he wasn't an existence of a human being.  
They were easily able to cut her carotid or even neck itself off.

The Methuselah plunged his claws to her neck, and suggested.  
"I tell you once again, for the last time. How about getting out of here, forgetting all the data and memory you've got from this place?"  
"I know you have enough courage and capacity for achievement.  
The way to this facility isn't an easy way, so I supposed how courageous you are."  
"But even though you're a praiseworthy girl, you're just a Terran. Easily you're going to die and send to a grave..."  
Then he moved his forefinger a little, saying: "...I hope you'll understand what I'm saying."  
The girl was slightly wounded on her skin. Injured one of the capillary vessel, a fine thread of red liquid began to roll down her neck.

Though she kept taking a firm attitude, she was a young woman of Terran.  
She would soon change her mind and return to where she'd come from, once he used the supernatural power.  
The Methuselah believed like this, but when he lifted her chin and looked into the expression on the face, he realized he was wrong.

The girl felt neither fear nor regret. The color of the light she'd got in her eyes was the color which he had never seen kind of like that.  
The merciless light was brightly shining and piercing the Methuselah's decadent mind.  
He tried to think this phenomenon, but only to find no answer.  
How could this coming out?  
Like a frost flower secretly opening its petals in the night, he felt some of his thoughts were being changed by the coldness.  
In his experience, he regarded the Terrans as the illogical ones with hot spirits. But this girl was not.  
From the girl, he couldn't feel any warmth. She had no warm heart with her. Instead, she got another thing.  
The girl had a strong ambition enough to effect on the other person.  
And the fragment of that was seen through her eyes, taking on the form of cold light.

The eyes filled with the cold light pierced the Methuselah's dim eyes.  
The light which he could see no warmth in that was more beautiful than he had ever seen through his long life.  
It was sharp, dangerous, enchanting, and above all beautiful. The light resembled ice crystals created by the severe winter.

The girl looked tired because of the bandage on her neck, but her pride never wavered. Glaring fiercely at the Methuselah, she said to him.  
"Ha! I'm not interested in graves yet. Maybe I never get interested in those."  
"However, if you're eager for a death, I have a nice idea..."  
"You yourself should choose the death."

A faint sound of starting a machine reached the Methuselah's ears.  
And then a dazzling light appeared from the wand the girl was holding in her hand.  
It was the razor beam which had the effect of freezing substances in a flash.  
The razor made it possible to cool things to very low temperature, by pushing the atoms of the irradiated part with its radiation pressure.  
The girl's target was the right arm of the Methuselah, becoming the lethal bandage for her.  
The razor beam from close range was inevitable, even he was a Methuselah.  
Moreover, he was fixedly looking her in the eyes.  
When a person had his attention caught by something, it was natural that he would notice the danger slower than usual.  
The Methuselah's right arm was made frozen.

He sighed, looking at the frozen arm.  
"Astonishing. How did you do this? I've never expected a young woman of Terran to take such a violent action."

In contrast to the former moment, the girl was the one to possess the power of life and death.  
At the height of few inches lower than the Methuselah, the young scientist of Terran was pointing the wand at him.  
The wand was decorative design with many jewels, and it seemed not to be a weapon.  
But opposite to its looks, it was easily able to freeze a man.  
The girl breathed deeply, and wiped away the blood bleeding a little from her neck. She gave the Methuselah a triumphant smile.  
"Now, it's time to think. What shall I do for you?"

"Taking you as a sample of Methuselah, is a possible plan. But I guess that will be too simple and boring..."  
"Well, what about making you a guide for me to search this facility? That sounds fun, doesn't it?"  
The girl talked innocently to the Methuselah, and looked up at his light brown eyes with her blue eyes.  
The Methuselah perceived that the same light as previous moment was still blazing in her eyes.  
He returned his look to her, and responded to her suggestion. Now he regained the thing which was long lost.  
The light of a will was beginning to shine in his eyes.  
"Whatever you think, I shall defer to. Defeated like that by a girl, I have no choice."

In fact, at the moment when the effect of her weapon was revealed, he had come up with many countermoves.  
He could petrify her with venom, and as easy as doing so, he could cut her neck with the left hand.  
Killing the girl for the retrieval of his frozen right arm was very easy thing for him.  
But as a result, he didn't put her to death.  
The incomprehensible reason why he did so remained shrouded in mystery. Except for him, nobody understood its reason.

***

The brown-haired Methuselah made a polite bow from the waist. It was such a natural move that the girl forgot the frozen arm of his.  
"Excuse me, I have forgotten introducing myself."  
"My name is Balthasar von Neumann.  
Long ago I was nominated as an administrator of here, and kept on working as such."  
Instead of the frozen right hand, Balthasar stretched out his left hand toward the girl. He smiled gently at her.

Then the girl took his left hand, and answer to a handshake. Laughing merrily, she touched Balthasar's hand.  
"I'm Helga von Vogelweide. Remember this well."  
"And you've make a mistake, Herr Neumann. I'm the Countess of Ostmark, and the word Fräulein is actually not proper for me."  
"I think you should correct the word..."

Balthasar gave Helga a wry smile. He let go of his hand on her, and acted as her guide.  
"Willkommen auf dem Bahnsteig der Stratosphäre, Gräfin."

* * *

End. Thank you for reading my first fan fiction! And sorry for my awkward English :-(  
I used some German(*) in the dialog, because Balthasar and Helga seem to be Austrian.  
How do you think about them? If you've got some idea or question, let me hear.  
...I think Helga's **not** a drama queen, a bitch or a SM-lady, though she looked so in apearance.

*"Die kalte Eisblume schneidet scharf."---"the frost flower felt cold and sharp."(Not accurate translation)  
"An der schoenen, blauen Donau"---"on the beautiful blue Danube"  
"von dieser Zeit an"---"from this moment"  
"Guten Abend"---german greeting used in the evening  
"Fräulein"---"Little Lady"  
"Gräfin"---"Countess"  
"Willkommen auf dem Bahnsteig der Stratosphäre."---"Welcome to the platform of stratosphere."


End file.
